Keep Akron Beautiful's 1st Clean Up Akron Month Proves Huge Success

May 7, 2013--- Akron, Ohio – Does your neighborhood or community look litter free? Well, you can thank the 4,959 volunteers registered to clean up 112 public sites including 33 city parks, 5 community centers and 15 schools. Twenty thousand, two hundred pounds (20,200), or 10.1 tons of litter was collected, including 83 tires, a washer agitator, coats, clothes, baby jumpers and car fenders which were illegally dumped. A diverse group of individuals and organizations dedicated over 14,877 hours to join the fight against litter and Clean Up Akron! Several local businesses organized cleanup groups and also made a difference in our community. These included Bridgestone-Americas Tire Operation, GOJO Vital Resources, Robert W. Baird and Co., and Goodyear Tire & Rubber. We also had groups from the Young Professionals of Akron, West Akron Board of Trade, Cascade Locks Park Association, St. Vincent-St. Mary’s Varsity Baseball Team, the Joint Service Project of Leadership Akron and Torchbearers and the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition. Downtown Akron Partnership joined the fight and cleaned up downtown Akron with their crew of 360 volunteers on May 3 during the “Green and Clean” campaign. My Neighborhood, Our Akron sponsored weekend neighborhood park cleanups.

The Super Saturday picnic held on April 27 was a hit! Over 900 Clean Up Akron Month volunteers came to the Akron Zoo for a free volunteer appreciation picnic and awards ceremony. Zippy from the University of Akron, Ducky Downs from The All-American Soap Box Derby, Conrad Conservation from the Akron Zoo, and the Firestone High School jazz band entertained the crowd, while Service Director, John Moore and Keep Akron Beautiful Program Manager, Jacqui Flaherty offered warm words of encouragement and congratulations to the assembled volunteers. We are proud that we can express our gratitude and appreciation to our volunteers with a free picnic through the generosity of our 22 local sponsors, including: Acme Fresh Markets, Akron Zoological Park, Bruegger’s Bagels, City of Akron, D-A Specialty Co. Inc., Eat’n Park, Firestone High School, First Watch, GOJO Industries, Hitchcock Fleming & Associates, Inc., House of LaRose, Junior Women’s Civic Club, Keep Akron Beautiful Board of Directors, Little Debbie Snacks, Sandra Smith, Schwebel’s Bakery, Shearer’s Branded Snacks, Sully’s Party Rental, Pepsi-Cola, The University of Akron, The Volunteer Center of Summit County, Waste Management of Ohio.

However, none of this could have been possible if it were not for our national sponsors who so generously donated the supplies to make this litter cleanup week possible again this year! Clean Up Akron Month is Keep Akron Beautiful’s largest public awareness event; we look forward to this spring initiative every year as it fulfills our mission to “improve Akron’s quality of life through beautification and responsible environmental management.”